Bush promises to investigate attacks in Afghan

Washington, Jul 16: President George W Bush has promised to investigate Afghan President Hamid Karzai's charge that Pakistan's intelligence service was responsible for a recent terrorist attack in his country, including the attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul.

'' First of all, we'll investigate his charge and we'll work with his service to get to the bottom of his allegation,'' President Bush told a White House press conference on Tuesday July 15. Bush said '' some extremists are coming out of parts of Pakistan into Afghanistan. And that's troubling to us, it's troubling to Afghanistan, and it should be troubling to Pakistan.'' We share a common enemy: That would be extremists who use violence to either disrupt democracy or prevent democracy from taking hold,'' he added.

'' Al Qaeda is -- they're there. We have hurt Al Qaeda hard -- hit them hard, and hurt them in -- around the world, including in Pakistan. And we will continue to keep the pressure on Al Qaeda -- with our Pakistan friends,'' he maintained.

Bush who is scheduled to meet new Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani here on July 28 said he hoped Pakistan's government understood the dangers posed by terrorists operating on Pakistani soil, and would work cooperatively with both the United States and Afghanistan.

"It is a challenge and the three of us working together can deal with the challenge a lot better than if we do not work together," he added.

Replying to a question about increasing violence against American and NATO forces in Afghanistan, Bush said ''Iraq and Afghanistan are two different fronts in the same war.'' He said the United States was enjoying some success in Iraq, while Afghanistan remained a tough fight against a brutal enemy.

When asked if more US troops might be headed to Afghanistan, the US President said members of the coalition fighting there have already announced plans to send additional forces, including the the United States and France.

UNI